The Birth of the Iranian Folk Congress

The Birth of the Iranian Folk Congress

A New Chapter in Iran’s United Fight for Freedom

For at least the last fifteen centuries, the Iranian nation has consisted of a diverse collection of tribes, ethnicities, languages, and cultures. From Azeris, Kurds, and Baluch to Arabs, Lors, Gilaks, Mazanis, and many others, these groups have coexisted as one nation under one name: Iran. Yet over the past four decades, much of the media has mistaken this diversity for division, framing Iran’s pluralism as a series of disjointed, or worse, separatist movements. For years, groups with unspecified and unmeasurable influence on the ground in Iran claimed to speak on behalf of different peoples and groups within Iran. These political actors expressed, at best, dubious and, at worst, misleading views on Iran’s territorial integrity, and portrayed the Iranians’ fight for liberation on demographic lines, taking a page out of the West’s troublesome identity politics. But now, with the emergence of the Iranian Folk Congress, the truth is becoming undeniable; Iran’s diversity is not a weakness to be exploited, but a strength to be reclaimed. On October 29, 2025, the Folk Congress released its Founding Declaration. It reads: “In the name of Iran and freedom, we, a group of representatives of the ancient tribes and ethnic groups of this land, conscious of our historical responsibility before the great Iranian nation and recognizing the necessity of national solidarity, hereby declare the establishment of the Iranian Folk Congress.” The Congress members represent a diverse range of communities across Iran, including the Azarbaijan Movement for Democracy and Integrity of Iran, the Bakhtiari Clan–Haftleng Tribe, the Baloch Stability Front, the Great Narouei Tribe, the Khafajah Tribe, the Khosrow Khan Qashqaei Followers Front, the National Movement of North Khorasan, the Tabarestan Movement of Iran, and the Yarsan National Movement. The Congress remains open to expanding its membership, welcoming new communities that share and uphold its core principles. The Congress underscores its core pillars as

1. The preservation of Iran’s territorial integrity;
2. The recognition of the legitimate cultural, linguistic, economic, and social rights of its ethnic groups; and
3. The promotion of equal citizenship, solidarity, and national unity.

The Congress further announced that in their path towards a free, democratic, and independent Iran, they consider Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as their “capable national leader.” The Congress’s statement reflects a broad-based, national, and clearly demonstrated sentiment across Iran.  During the Woman, Life, Freedom movement of 2022, Iranians across the nation chanted: “From Zahedan to Kurdistan, I give my life for Iran.” The chant, which was first heard after Zahedan’s Black Friday when the IRGC opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers, killing over 100 people, became a symbol of national unity. From Saqqez, Mahsa Amini’s hometown in Iranian Kurdistan Province, to Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Iranians proved that faith and ethnicity do not, and could not, divide them. Despite decades of discrimination, poverty, and isolation justified by the regime under the false accusations of “separatism,” the Iranian Baluch and Iranian Kurdish people have stood among the most loyal and forgotten children of Iran. With the Iranian Folk Congress forged, our determination to reclaim our homeland has been welded into something no tyrant can ever break apart. It is now upon all of us, the freedom-demanding children of Iran, to stand behind and empower the movements that unite our nation and give purpose and hope to our fight for freedom. May we take back our homeland and build a peaceful, just, and free Iran, where every citizen enjoys equal rights and true representation.